[Hiring] Senior Designer @Ad Hoc

Role Description

As a Senior Designer, you will be an experienced individual contributor with a strong focus on information architecture, user research, and product design. You will work with minimal oversight to help ensure the team meets scope, schedule, and delivery expectations while shaping the long-term user experience of a large, content-rich digital portal.

You may serve as the design discipline lead for key initiatives, partnering directly with government stakeholders, product teams, and external partners. You will also help strengthen the broader design practice through mentorship, collaboration, and actionable feedback.

• Own and evolve the portal's information architecture, including navigation, site maps, page hierarchy, labeling, taxonomy, and user flows.
• Lead information architecture efforts for high-traffic pages, features, and cross-portal initiatives, evaluating how changes may affect the broader user experience.
• Partner with external teams to ensure the portal's information architecture aligns with enterprise standards and related digital experiences.
• Plan and conduct user research to inform information architecture and design decisions, including usability testing, tree testing, card sorting, and generative research when appropriate.
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data, including user research, analytics, feedback surveys, and other inputs, into clear findings and actionable recommendations.
• Create and maintain information architecture and design deliverables, including site maps, user flows, wireframes, concepts, and prototypes.
• Translate complex user, content, and business needs into clear, intuitive experiences.
• Present research findings, design rationale, and recommendations to government stakeholders and product teams in a clear and compelling way.
• Incorporate users with disabilities into research and apply accessibility principles, including Section 508 and WCAG, throughout information architecture and design decisions.
• Contribute design work within an established design system, from early concepts and low-fidelity wireframes through higher-fidelity prototypes.
• Build strong working relationships across design, product, engineering, program leadership, government stakeholders, and external teams.
• Navigate ambiguity, evolving requirements, and complex stakeholder environments while maintaining progress toward delivery.
• Identify design, research, and delivery risks, communicate them proactively, and recommend practical mitigations.
• Coach and mentor other team members through actionable feedback, knowledge sharing, and design collaboration.
• Support the hiring process by reviewing candidate exercises and participating in panel interviews.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 7+ years of relevant professional experience.
• Additional relevant experience may be substituted for education.
• Demonstrated experience conducting and applying user research within digital products or services.
• Experience planning, conducting, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research.
• 2+ years of experience focused on information architecture or equivalent responsibilities, with a portfolio demonstrating work such as site maps, navigation structures, user flows, taxonomy, and wireframes.
• Experience designing for a large, complex, or content-rich website, application, or digital portal.
• Experience working within an established design system.
• Strong ability to translate research findings, analytics, user needs, and complex requirements into actionable design recommendations.
• Experience presenting work to senior client or stakeholder audiences and articulating the rationale behind design decisions.
• Experience mentoring or providing design guidance to other team members.
• Proficiency with modern design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Miro, or similar platforms.
• Understanding of accessible and inclusive design practices.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting federal government digital services or modernization programs.
• Experience designing healthcare, benefits, patient-facing, or other complex service-oriented digital experiences.
• Experience working with large-scale portals, content ecosystems, or complex navigation structures.
• Experience with information architecture research methods and tools, including tree testing and card sorting.
• Experience incorporating web analytics or other quantitative data into UX and information architecture decisions.
• Familiarity with Section 508 and WCAG accessibility standards.
• Experience conducting research within government review, approval, recruitment, or participant-management processes.

Benefits

• Company-subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Flexible PTO.
• 401K with employer match.
• Paid parental leave after one year of service.
• Employee Assistance Program.